City of Stone
by annecrystal
Summary: After CoG. You will fall in love with the wrong person, a quote led to unanswerd questions, what does it mean? A new story with new love,a mysterious girl from the club,new shadowhunters, and a rival for Jace..a boy named Ayden. love will find its way..
1. Prologue

**City of Stone**

**prologue.**

* * *

The music of the club surrounded the room, with its deafening stereo and strobe lights, flashing in carious colors, as teens of all ages danced carelessly as if there were no such thing as a tomorrow. The Pandemonium was a popular all-ages club in New York, and a typical hangout spot for Clary and her friends, the Shadowhunters. Jace had wandered off somewhere in the club to get some drinks for all of them.

Not much has happened in the months after the events from their time in Alicante. Luke and Jocelyn had recently gotten married a few weeks ago, and they happily moved in with each other, knowing that their apartment was no longer liveable, recalling the Ravener incident from before. All was quite normal for her now that she had Jace and all of her friends with her. Simon with his occasional visits, he was now a wanderer. Keeping his loyalty to the Mark of Cain, that still showed lightly behind his hair on his forehead. He didn't think of it much as a curse, more of a privilege. Maia, being a werewolf, was able to tag along with him some of the time in his travels. as he explored more of the wonders of the open world.

Clary looked around willing to find Jace with their drinks in his hand as she walked towards the side, trying to catch a better view near the clear wall windows at the back. "Clary!" It was Jace with the drinks, looking nonchalantly smiling, heading towards her.

As she let out a happy wave, the whole room seemed to begin moving in slow motion. Jaces eyes slowing moving towards the glass window, as it shatter and their side. A person came crashing to their feet, headfirst. The first thing Clary saw were the eyes. Theyy seemed to look the way Jace's were whenever he was seemingly caught off guard at some point, which was rarely. As the figure hit the ground, all the motion started coming back, to its original state, normal movement.

The sound system bursting through all four walls, so loud, that it made the rest of the people oblivious, no one had even noticed what had just happened, and they just kept on dancing the night away. While she watched the figure left itself up a little, a sudden impulse ran through Clary's body instantaneously. Like a wiff of adrenaline ran among her veins, the figure patting off the fragments of glass that clung to their clothing. And then she noticed how the eyes were again, the mouth, now looking as if it were...smirking? The figure hoisted itself onto its two feet and stepped one foot out the broken wall. not saying a word.

And then it stopped for a moment, half way out the window, and turned their head to face Clary. The city lights filtering from the outside made it more easily to see the figure now. The look on the persons face was a smile, looking as if this were all for fun, not even worried about the wall or the shattered glass. Suddenly, a passing car's headlights made the figure so clear to her. She saw the shape of the face, the eyes. He was wearing a light colored zipped up hoodie, a bonnet covering the top of his head, and a sort of sleeveless undershirt, and some kind of gym shorts. She saw the dark hair that came from under the hoodie, locks peaking from the back of her neck, changing colors with the strobes of the club lights. And then she realized it was a girl.

She looked to Clary's side for a moment, and then she'd realized that Jace was right next to her. His super speed made him move so fast, that he didn't even bother to make a sound. He too was looking at the girl, with a puzzled look on his face. Clary was about to open her mouth and a sudden,"HEY YOU!" came out. She blinked for a moment and realized that it hadn't come from her mouth. But the girl's glance was so quick that as the car's headlights began to fade, she stepped through the window before the bouncer from the entrance could get to her. Both their eyes still gazed at the broken glass pane that had shattered before them, the scene still had them pondering through their mind.

Jace's hand rested on her shoulder as the bouncer slowly approached the broken, followed by some other teenagers in utter shock. The impulse that Clary had felt was now gone. A man in a suite also approached the area as well. His hand went through his hair, looking as though he was in utter grief. She could hear him muttering words under his breath, too soft for her to hear. She looked him over slowly, and saw his badge that read, CO-MANAGER.

'_Poor guy...'_Clary thought slowly, as Jace began to walk with her away from the scene silently. She looked back over her shoulder, still picturing the girl, crashing through the pane, and landing on the shards of glass, leaving them with her go lucky smile. And just then, Jace's sensor went off. Demons.

But that was just part of the story, lets go back. Yes, let me take you back, way, way back. To the very beginning of this story. The story of a child, who's destiny was yet to unfold into a collision, a clash of how there ever even became the places of Heaven and Hell. The story of a place so secret, it was said to be hidden. Deep under the Earth itself. So mysterious, that, it was a whol new place, hidden deep underground.

o0COS0o

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thankyou for reading!! i hope you review this, almost done with first chappie.

please support me, i loved this book trilogy, and i thought, what the hey? I should

at least make one more book to complete this awesome series. And so here we are.

Oh!, and if you liked this, you should totally read my other fanfic! worked on it with a

veryvery close friend of mine;)

**BLISS **

**Echoes of Angels.**

the first one has kind of like the shadowhunter theme, but i loved it writing it, i love it.

it was sooooo worth writing. please check out my other fics, please and thankss soso much.

well, payce!!xoxo.

--annecrystal.

* * *


	2. The Arrival

**City Of Stone**

Chapter One

**The Arrival.**

* * *

There was a cry in the distance, like a baby. The sound of dogs barking came from around the corner. The cry became louder and louder. The air was cold in the East New York alleys, that you were almost able to see your breath as a cloud of fog. The dogs bark came closer, louder. And a door burst open. The barking had ceased, a murmur of voices came from around the corner, and the sound of footsteps and water splashing came from the distance. The baby stopped crying. A sound of a heavy heaving of breath came from two pairs of legs, that stood before the baby's basket.

A man, he looked like he'd been awake for several hours, came into view. He had somewhat dark dirty blonde hair, and eyes the color of deep sea blue. His eyes looked tired like he hadn't slept for days, instantly widened at the sight of the baby in the basket. He looked around, searching for whoever may have left the child in the alley. He'd heard the dogs barking from before, and then bent down gently moving the blanket from the baby's face. And he noticed her eyes, how they seemed to glisten a kind of dark greenish tone, and then the tone seemed to fade into an emerald jaded color.

"Who left you here..." he spoke as soft as a small whisper. The air was cold, he realized, as he could see his own breath in puffs of foggy smoke. He looked back down at the baby, gently stroking her soft face. The cheeks were flushed a dark pink, and her nose was almost as cold as ice. He knew he couldn't just leave her out there, he needed to bring her inside. So he picked up the basket ever so gently, and wrapped it under his long dark robe, entering their small apartment home again.

As he entered, there was a sound of a baby cry. Another baby, he passed one hall, filled with past pictures of the man in various fighting arenas, holding medals in each hand. Boxing, martial arts, kickboxing. He entered a small room, setting down the cradle gently on a small chair that was set on the bedside. There was a woman, softly sleeping, she was pale, but beside her, was another baby. She held it closely in her arms, the small child gently sleeping against his mother. The man looked them over, and the woman suddenly awoke. Her eyes fluttering open, slightly glancing over to the man.

"Andrew..you're still up. Come to bed, its late..oh, my.." she started to sit up, but the man, Andrew stopped her. He kept his worried look on his face, filled with grief. "Andrew, she's beautiful.." the woman continued, sinking back into the bed. He looked down at the cradle at his side, a hint of worriedness still across his face, he looked up again. Their home was a small place, an apartment home. But even though it was small, they'd managed to make it look like a decent home. It wasn't much, but it was all they had for what they called a home.

"But Ariel, we-" he stopped, looking over his ill wife. He'd been by her side since the beginning of her pregnancy. The birth of their son seemed to be the most happiest moment of their lives. A beautiful baby boy, it had been a year since then. And their home was still a small place, built under an old town public library. They'd shared it with some other people, but since they'd been expecting a baby, the neighboring hosts had been considerate into letting them take the bottom, not bothering to climb up the stairs.

"Andrew, He has blessed us with yet another blessing," the woman said in a soft voice of whisper. She looked at the baby, sleeping soundless in the basket. She had dark hair, and rosed cheeks from the chillyness from the outside. "We can't just ignore his blessings. Andrew, we can take care of them, both of them. Our two blessings," she smile a weak but happy smile. Andrew's face softened a little, and he returned a smile.

"Alright, get some rest. Shh, sleep," he stroked his wife's hair, brushing some away from her beautiful face. Even through the paleness of her skin, you could still see the angelic image from her face. She had the dark fair hair, and her face seemed to glow, even through some of the darkest of places. And even through her image, she still managed to stay joyful and spirited, bringing happiness towards the others around her. To Andrew.

As he looked down, he saw a small glass like canister. and tied around it, a piece of paper. He cautiously picked it up from the basket, and untied the paper from the bottle. As he did so, he unrolled the paper and look it over, as if it were an ancient scroll from ages ago. He looked from the paper to the baby, still sound asleep. He looked at the bottle in his other hand, it was filled with a clear water liquid, and a mark on it the shape of a 't'.

A shadow moved from behind the curtains, a hooded figure. It had been watching them from a distance, a slight breath coming from his mouth. Andrew looked up and turned, looking at the window, nothing. But he could sense that he was being watched at one point. The hooded figure ducked from under the window pane, still breathing slowly and steadily, and then held its breath.

"Who's there?!" Andrew moved the curtain from the window, and all heard was the sound of footsteps, splashing from the puddles, and the sound of breaths heaving from the distance and into the night.

o0COS0o

Sun peaked from a couple of buildings down the block, and sounds of cars running came from almost every direction. A girl casually walking from one corner of a building, her head looking around casually, a basketball in one hand and her other clinging to a strap from her guitar case, and then suddenly, she bumped into someone.

"Whoa, sorry dude," she nodded at him for a second as she stumbled to one side. He looked at her for a moment and then nodded back. His body was almost like a stoned wall, knocking her slightly off the pavement. His hair seemed to glow a kind of golden color, and his eyes a similar matching tone. As they turned towards the opposite directions, they'd eyed each other for a moment, and then kept on walking.

As the girl dribbled her basketball, she looked back, and got to catch just a glimpse of the back of the boy's head. She seemed to enjoy the way it shimmered in the sun, she stuffed something in her pocket. She ran around one corner and then stopped in front of a huge crowd of people walking across the streets under the stoplights. This was what many would have called the typical New York traffic, business workers in their long coats and suite cases in one hand and a cell phone in the other. She somehow seemed out of place. She took looked up and took in one breath before slowly bumping through the people.

She stopped then, in front of some cement steps that lead to the front of wooden doors. A huge marble made building, with a carved lion that layed at the two ends of the building. There were words that were also carved at the stop part, above the pairs of pillars that stood firmly in place that read, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. The girl smiled and let out a satisfied breath as she trudged herself up the steps and through the doors.

"Nicole! How are you?" a woman greeted the girl with a small. She was a woman in her mid fifties, and a pair of spectacles that rested atop of her nose. She was a slender woman for her age, and she had a lightish gray tone for hair. She welcomed the girl in with a nod, and she walked over to her.

"Hey Ms. Meridith," the set her stuff down at one side, and looked around the library, in awe. The seats were filled with people, all whose faces were buried in books, and others, some teens huddled together on the public computers. She smiled at the sight, and shook her head, looking back at the woman. "Looks like this place is pack, as usual."

"Oh, come take a seat here, Nicole. And what did I tell you? Call me Meri," she smile. Nicole was a very dedicated library goer since she was very little, and went there whenever she had any spare time on her hands. As she turned towards Meri, she handed her a keychain that had a single golden key attached to it. Nicole smiled and took it casually. "The room is all yours."

"Thanks Meri! I owe you!" she stumbled towards her things and walked hastily forwards towards a stairwell. Once she made it up a few flights of stairs, she stopped at one part. An old storage room from the library.

She'd found it one day, while she was helping Meridith clean the library and storing some of the old books in the spare rooms. This room in particular was an old forgotten storage room, rarely used. It looked untouched except for the books that filled the side wall shelves, and the windowsill that had a space for you to sit in, like the ones from the Peter Pan movies, and how Wendy always left the window open for Peter. She trailed her hand through the rows of books and found one that she took off the shelf.

As she plopped herself onto the windowsill, she dug through the side pocket of her guitar case, and then took out a small green notebook. It wasn't much, just a notebook with a leatherlike cover that had a weird scale design on it, she'd bought it for five dollars at Target. Small, but durable. There was a pen that she unattached from the side and then turned to a page with an unfinished paragraph on it.

"Okay...where is it?" she whispered to herself, turning the pages of the book titled, PARADISE LOST. It was an epic by John Milton, that he'd written in ten books, but then it was redivided into twelve. Nicole's family wasn't that religious, but she'd become interested in the angels and God from her mother. She always talked about Him and how she and her brother were the greatest blessings from Him. Meridith had said that any book in this room would be okay for her to keep, since no one ever bothered to read any of them anymore. There was always another copy of the Paradise Lost downstairs.

"When God said,'Let there be light,' you came to light up the creation of the world...' " she said softly to herself. She had been righting the whole book in the way normal people would understand it. She would sometimes even memorize what she'd written, without even knowing it, it would repeat back into her mind a million times. She let out a scowl as she dropped her pen, it seemed to run out of ink in the middle of her paraphrasing. "Darn it! Ugh..lets see. What do I have..."

She dug through her pockets, searching for another pen, anywhere. She brought her hand out slowly and brought out what she'd stuffed in her pocket earlier. She grabbed the boy's wallet, which didn't seem to have much in it, thirty dollars, a bus token, and the piece of paper that had come with it. She saw only a single word on it, but she didn't really understand what it meant. She'd grabbed something else from the boy too. A silver metal stick, she held it in her palm, and then set it down.

Nicole took the small torn paper, it looked sort of scorched, someone had tried to burn it before, leaving nothing but this one word. She layed it on a page at the very back of her notebook and took out a small piece of tape from her guitar pocket, taping it carefully in place on the page. The sun gleamed from the glass of the window pane, making the name stand out from the blank page instantly, as she looked at the word once more before turning back to the previous page.

_Jace._

o0COS0o

"I can't believe you were pick pocketed!" Alec's voice rose from the other end of the table in the kitchen. Jace looked up casually, not a hint of worry visible from his face. He took a bite out a green ripened apple, blinking normally. He spoke as he swallowed the chewed apple bit.

"Well, I couldn't actually tell that I was pick pocketed, there wasn't anything suspicious about the person. She was just a girl, cute by the way," he spoke again, taking another bite from the apple. Alec stood from his chair and slapped one hand onto his forhead in frustration. Isabelle rocked slowly in her chair, eating her cereal in a bowl.

"Oh so now it was a _cute_pick pocket girl. JACE! It was a flame message from the Council! And what if Clary..." he stopped.

"What if Clary what?" a red haired girl entered the room, with a cup of water in her hand. She grabbed a chair and sat by Jace, as he took another decent bite from his apple. Alec eyed him with an angered look, and then turned to Isabelle for back up. She just blinked twice at him before she finally spoke."The thing is, you see,

"You genius boyfriend here got a flame message from the Council," Clary looked at all of them carefully and then at Jace. "Well then? Come on, what did it say?" she took a sip from her cup and waited for Isabelle to continue, Jace munching on the last of his apple.

"Well, your oh so amazing boyfriend got his wallet pick pocketed by a street girl before any of us could read it," she said as though it was nothing. Alec turning towards the two, Clary spat her drink out, leaving a mist of water dissolving in the air, soaking Alec's face. "I remember me saying that _I _didn't read it, now did I?" Jace answered back in his nonchalant cocky way.

Alec slammed his hand against the table, about to burst into a tyrade of anger, but was then interrupted by another voice. Maryse. She entered the room followed by her husband Robert. They didn't at all seemed to be bothered by the room that seemed to be bursting with nonstop screaming and arguments. Instead they passed their soaking son, who recieved a towel from Isabelle, wiping is face, and approached the center of the room, waiting for silence.

"The Council has approached us, handing us a very brief but important message. It has been said to us that someone had reported a very legendary discovery. They want all the head of the Shadowhunter families to arrive there, and listen in on what they have to say."

"So what?" Jace scoffed, tossing his eaten apple bob into the trash. "You're going to leave us, just so you can go back to Alicante and listen to some people give you a lecture on history? Lame," he leaned back from his chair. Clary gave him a soft glare that sent him to forcefully roll his eyes and sit back up.

"What is it thats so important for everyone to hear?" Clary asked, half interested in the question. Maryse gave them all a sterned look, preparing to answer the question. Jace looked up, wondering why she had to pause. What was so big about this news, anyways? Robert stepped up from beside her and took a breath from his nostrils.

"It is said that this new is what could possibly lead them to a connection for the Children of Michael and Lucifer," he stopped. Jace yawned, still looked at them, losing interest, but Robert continued anyways. "In other news, it also means a mission for the Santan's secret city," all the kid's heads looked up, Alec, from drying his face. Jace's ear's twitched as his eyes shot up, curiously. Maryse added on to the information.

"It was a city said to be housing the Underground Tournaments. Its a secret society that both downworlders, demons, and Shadowhunters alike fight in various levels of battles. They say that the secret city was made to defy the Angel's ways. And maybe even God himself. But the place is so ancient, so unknown, that none have even pinpointed where it is. Many Shadowhunters gave it names such as Santan's Secret City, Devil's Headquarters, or Lucifer's Kingdom. But now we only know it for what our own knowledge knows."

Jace sat up straight, now, somewhat interested, "And that is...?"

"The City of Stone."


	3. Whispers Of the Dark

**guys, please read and review? i really want to know what you all think..  
:(... hahaha, well yup. please please read on! i really need the reviews!!**

**City of Stone**

Chapter Two

**Whispers Of the Night.**

* * *

Maryse and Robert Lightwood had taken off towards Alicante shortly after explaining to the children about the information that had been learned. Jace and Clary took off shortly afterwards, Alec was at Magnus's and Isabelle went out to some place partying. Clary and Jace were spending more time together than ever before, and she loved it. He was all that she could ever want. Even though at times he would bring the cockiness back out of him.

Overall he still hadn't changed one bit. He was still going to be the same Jace that she'd met that day back at the Pandemonium. Always looking for someone to backsass, searching for a new adventure and reason to beat up a demon here and there. The memories of them ever being separated were now all behind them. Fading away into the forgotten past of what was never supposed to have been.

The two had stopped at a Marble Slab and had gotten one big cone of coffee flavored ice cream, and Clary was talking and sharing a story of Simon's last visit to her a few weeks ago, and how him and Maia were now going steady. Since Alicante, her and Maia had really gotten to know each other, and began to be really close. She was more like a sister to her now. So was Isabelle. The three formed a small friendship that was just for the girls. She looked at Jace, licking the ice cream just to notice that he didn't really seem to listen to what she was saying.

"Jace?" Clary asked. She'd noticed how he had his hands in his pockets, he hadn't said a word of cockiness at the mention of Simon's name, his head down gazing at the ground. He had something on his mind, she could always tell. "What's up?"

As they turned one corner, he finally lifted his head up from his gaze, somewhat blanked out, and then turned to look at the glass window that they were passing, and stopped walking. There, a Grande Piano rested, modeling from the other side of the glass. Shiny and new, no dust or scratches. Beside it was a small keyboard that seemed to fit in your arms or a bag, sitting on a white desk, where the light seemed to hit it perfectly. _A portable piano, huh? What will they think of next._ He stuck his hands back in his pockets and turned to Clary, who lifted her eyes up a little in puzzlement.

"This is the place." Clary looked taken back a little, still confused. Shaking her head letting out a small laugh, and then returning her gaze at Jace. He blinked once which really got her into a dumbfounded position of the head.

"What are you talking about?" she shook her head and took another lick from her ice cream.

"This is where that _girl _mugged me." Clary let out a sigh and then walked over beside Jace. He looked somewhat nonchalant about him being mugged, but there was a hint of annoyance in his voice at the mention the the 'girl' part.

"Oh come on, Jace. You're just mad at the fact that a _girl _got the best of you," she rested her head on his shoulder as she handed her ice cream to him as he licked a bit of it before taking it from her hands and digging in for a big bite of the ice cream. Clary rolled her eyes and smiled, as she grabbed it back from him taking an even bigger bite.

"Now, to get you hands on another stele...again." Clary said, remembering the other times that she'd lost their steles, her mothers, and then Jace's again at the Manor. And now this time, some girl had it, not even knowing how to use it. She would probably just leave it laying somewhere when she realized it wasn't really any use for anything, Clary thought, as she buried her cheek into Jace's muscles, and they slowly strolled along the sidelines of the city.

o0COS0o

"Thank you so much Meri," Nicole handed the keys into her hands. The two smiled at each other as Nicole picked up her things.

"Why don't you come and work with us?" Nicole smiled softly at the question, tugging at her guitar strap. She gave out a small laugh and began to speak. "My dad said he'd let me go to work once I turned sixteen, so I'm getting there. A few days from now," she nodded and began to turn towards the doors before Meridith could stop her with another curious question.

"Oh really, when?" she asked almost excitedly. Nicole stopped and smiled, and looked over her shoulder with one last glance before answering back to her.

"The day after tomorrow's tomorrow."

The city seemed darker now, not much quieter than before, but the sound was no less that it was before. Nico had left the library about half an hour ago, but she still seemed to wander through the streets of the city that never sleeps. It was true, it seemed even more lively at the night times. It was one of her most favorite things about New York, it made her feel like she was never alone. Her house was to the east of New York, midtown across the Brooklyn bridge opposite of the NYPL. She walked down a flight of stairs that led down into the underground. Only to be followed by some more people.

New York subways. Always another decent way of getting places, with the free smell of public services. She sat in one place, beside a man who was reading a crumpled news paper. She didn't know why, but it always seemed to make her feel awkward whenever she was in a subway next to strangers, but it was something that she'd gotten used to. She nodded her head and tapped her foot slowly on the floor as the sound of the shaking ground replaced the sound of silence. As the subway came to a stop, the sound of the driver's voice boomed through the subway shafts, the doors sliding open as people poured through the doors once more. She let out a breath and grabbed her guitar her basketball still tucked under her arm, squeazing through the ocean of people.

East New York wasn't as lively as Manhattan, no lights, beeping cars, but it was still New York. As she walked around, she trailed her hand off the metal gated fencing of the nearby houses. Appartment homes and townhouses covered one whole street, and every other pillar in the community had a bit of spray paint dashed on them, and each entryway with a gated fence looking door in front of it.

"I'm hungry..." she looked around, and then down. _And, I'm talking to myself...again. Wow. _As she reached one end of the street she turned to another with more houses trailed along one side, and a gas station on the other, two men were talking while pumping their gas in their cars , and a small Denny's right beside it where a couple of people shared some seats near the window. She reached a house not as different from the others around. It was an old time townhouse, red bricks made up the walls, and a wooden door with a metal knocker.

As she walked towards the gate, she couldn't help but feel like she was being followed. A rustle came from the bushes, and a shadow had passed from behind her. But when she turned there was nothing. She felt a person breathing over her, and she turned back again, nothing. She set her guitar down as she reached for the gate. A shiver went up her spine, the rustling loudened and a figure cupped her mouth with a hand, but before he could do anymore, she tackled it to the ground, its hand still over her mouth. And then silence.

o0COS0o

Nicole bit down hard on the cupped palm of the hand that covered her mouth. She heard a yelp as the boy removed it from her face, and just for satisfaction kicked him straight in the crotch. She then noticed more figures approaching her. Before she could back away enough to get in through the gate, she bumped into something, someone. As she turned to see what it was, her face met another, a boy with light brown hair spiked that his hair looked like the character Kiba from Naruto. He put one finger to his lips and smirked a 'Shhh'. She saw the boys eyes with the help from the street lights that soon lit in minutes, a gray tone. She pushed the boy back and rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, Gab!? Gabriel, what the hell?!" she looked around and saw the group of boys around her, and recognized them all. She glared at them all at first, and then a small smile crept across her face as they all ran into a huge tackle hug. These were her brother's friends, always wanting to cause a ruckus, just like most seventeen year olds do. Gabriel looked over at his siter for a moment and then grabbed her head, noogied her, letting her dark bonnett fall to the ground while he messed up her hair.

"Alright guys. Guys! Thanks, we got her good! Hey Mitchel, you okay?" a light skinned boy leaned on a wall with another guy patting him on the back softly as he tried to ease the pain from his area. He had a baggy jacket that he put in between his legs as he looked up at Gabriel giving him a soft thumbs up and a nod, and moved his face back down. Nicole tugged away from the crowd and called out, "SORRY!" She heard him say a quick,"It's okay!"

She turned back around, a couple of other boys from the crowd went over to her and asked,"Well Nicole, a couple of us are gonna go smash some cars at the back of the old Junkyard, you in?" she looked at them for a moment but before she answered, her brother went in and said to them. "Guys, you know Nic isn't like that. She has her _music_ and reading to tend to, isn't that right?" he looked back at her casually.

She stood still for a moment blinking, and then began to nod her head,"Uhh..yea. Yea, he's right, you go, and I'll do my, um.." she took her guitar from the ground and slung it back around her, dribbling the ball into her arms. Gabriel saw the ball and motioned for a pass, as the other guys nodded and walked on off through the streets. Nicole laughed and bounce passed it to her brother who caught it and began to show off all of his moves, while she stood her arms crossed shaking her head on the side.

"So," he said, still focusing on the ball. "What should we do?" She raised one eyebrow in brief confusion and then asked,"What do you mean?" She heard him snort out a laugh still messing with the ball against his palms. "For your birthday. What do you want?" She looked away for a moment, thinking. What did she want? She didn't really know. And then she thought of the the morning, at the instruments shop she'd entered. Gabriel said something, but she didn't really hear it clearly, her head shot back up. "What?"

"I _said _is it that small toy piano thing?" She scrunched her eyes together for a moment, not sure what he was talking about. He looked at her still playing basketball and then let out another laugh. "Hah, come on now. I've seen the way you look at it through the glass window in Manhattan. It's like you're in love with it or something." And then she remembered, the portable keyboard. The one she'd been checking out on everytime she passed it on her way to the library. "Ohh, that...how do you know about that? Stalker.." she looked away thinking about the piano again.

"Stalker? I'm you're brother. Besides, I just wanted to see where you always go whenever you have time after the gym with Dad," he shot the ball into a basketball street hoop that they'd found at the Junkyard, and leaned against the gated fence in their neighborhood. He let out a happy yell and then threw his fists in the air before catching the ball and making another.

"Some _brother_," she rolled her eyes at him. "And whats it to you where I go after trainings anyways?" she'd made it sound like just a rhetorical question. And so Gabriel answered her back with another question instead.

"But do you want it?" sounding as if he didn't hear her first question. He stopped dribbling and put his hands on his knees panting slowly, looking up at her from the ground. She trailed her eyes around the area, not sure how he would even be able to afford it. It was a third of a thousand dollars, and she knew that their family didn't make that much out of their salaries, much less afford to by something worth that much. "Its..I-I don't know. I don't really need anything special for my birthday," she slightly grinned.

"Come on..I know you really want it," he walked over to her. and the two walked through the gate and up the steps into their townhome. She looked at him and then smiled a little as they walked through the front doors,"My birthday will be perfect just as long as I can spend it with you guys, my family." Her brother looked down at her and then put his arm around her giving her a slight hug.

As they door started to close behind them, she felt a strange shiver across her back again. Like something was suddenly overshadowing them. She looked over her brother's arm slowly and she swore she saw a darker part move through the shadowy corner of her eyes. She then heard a whisper from somewhere, she couldn't make out the voice, but it sounded like a boy's deep whisper, and then another voice, a bit deeper like a man. But before she could make out what they were saying, their father had appeared from around the corner coming from a closed door that was room 111, and the side bare that read, Lexington.

"You two are home! Great, come inside now, dinner's almost up," he said in his soft and kind of a voice, wiping his muscular hands on a white stained towel. The two smiled and nodded, as they walked through the door. Before Nicole could step foot in through the doorway, she heard it again. Now it sounded like an undead chorus, like what you would expect to hear in a suspenseful horror movie. She could hear one saying her name, _Nicolette_**. **And one distinctive voice she could hear clearly, like an echo as she focused carefully on that one voice. It was deep, the voice of a man, speaking in what sounded like an ancient language, in a roaring whisper that seemed to scare her a little, trying hard to not listen, cupping her ears, but it just seemed to slip right through her eardrums.

_Esti o binecuvantata, prima mea fiica._

She wasn't an expert on translation, but hanging around the library, she did come across some Roman and Spanish words in thebooks from the library which she managed to translate through the internet. She only recognized the last words. Her mind went blank for a moment, what was happening. Gabriel wasn't the one messing with her this time, she thought. Suddenly, she felt bits of dust or ash falling before her. She saw marks, disintegrating through the wall, being burned their on its own. Εσείς είναι μια ιερή ένα, πρώτη θυγατρική- Καταστροφή.

It was followed by a certain marking, different from the symbols that were aligned beside each other. She could feel her eyes beginning to memorize the pattern of the symbols.

She felt a loss of breath for a moment, as last words escaped from the echoes of the dark, the man's voice again. Clear enough for her to know that it was a man, but she didn't know if it was just her, it sounded completely different. Like a total different aura had escaped from the tone of his voice, like a sort of light seeped through the dark. The voice said to her, now in an echoed whisper.

_..my Daughter._


End file.
